Added to active roster, WR Dez Fitzpatrick trying to carve a role with Steelers

Dez Fitzpatrick got a change of scenery this offseason when he left the Tennessee Titans and joined the Pittsburgh Steelers.

This week, he got a boost to his paycheck when the Steelers elevated the 25-year-old wide receiver from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Another step for Fitzpatrick could come Monday night if he gets a helmet in the Steelers’ game against the Cleveland Browns.

Fitzpatrick has no control about whether he will be on the active roster for the AFC North matchup, but he feels good about the trajectory his career has taken since he joined the Steelers in January.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” Fitzpatrick said Friday. “I’ve been working hard. Obviously, it was a personal disappointment after camp when they gave me the call, but it was a blessing at the same time that I got to stick around and still have a job.”

At the end of training camp, the Steelers kept Gunner Olszewski instead of Fitzpatrick as the sixth wide receiver. Fitzpatrick agreed to return on the practice squad, and he didn’t have to wait long for his call to the active roster.

“They asked me if I wanted to stay around, if I loved being a Steeler,” Fitzpatrick said. “I said yeah, and we’re still here.”

The Steelers promoted Fitzpatrick a few days after leading wide receiver Diontae Johnson injured his hamstring in the season-opening 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The fifth wide receiver spot on the game day roster will come down to Fitzpatrick or the more experienced Olszewski.

Fitzpatrick adds another piece to the collective that will be tasked with replacing Johnson, who is expected to miss multiple weeks while recovering from his injury.

“When you have one of your best skill players out, being able to fill it takes a group effort,” veteran receiver Allen Robinson said. “It takes guys making plays to fill in when somebody is out.”

After spending two seasons with the Titans, Fitzpatrick was looking for a fresh start in January after he spent most of 2022 on the practice squad. His tenure in Tennessee was viewed as a disappointment considering the Titans traded up 17 spots to select the former Louisville receiver in the fourth round of the 2021 draft.

Fitzpatrick failed to win a roster spot in training camp that year, a rarity for a fourth-round selection. At the time, former Tennessee general manager Jon Robinson intimated that Fitzpatrick lacked details necessary to play the position.

“I don’t know that anything went wrong,” Robinson said at the time. “Some players, it takes longer to transition to the pro game.”

The Titans signed Fitzpatrick to the practice squad, and he appeared in four games for them that year, catching five passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. He was cut again at the end of training camp and made just one brief (five-snap) appearance with the Titans.

Fitzpatrick, a finalist for Michigan high school player of the year in 2015 and a receiver who averaged 19.4 yards per catch in his final year at Louisville, was at a career crossroads.

“I’m not really sure what happened there,” he said. “All I know is my agent asked me if I wanted to stick around with Tennessee or go to the Steelers. It was a no-brainer.”

Since his arrival on a reserve/futures contract, Fitzpatrick has embraced playing special teams, figuring it was a way to earn a roster spot. In the preseason, he had a fumble recovery against Tampa Bay and chipped in special teams tackles against Buffalo and Atlanta.

“He’s always put the work in,” Allen Robinson said. “I feel like for us as a receiver group, that is the standard that we have here — guys coming in and working. He’s done that since Day 1, which is why I think a guy like that has the trust from an organization and staff. You may not make the initial 53, but you keep those guys around if there is an opportunity to be called up. It’s a true testament to coming here in the spring and putting in the work every day.”

At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Fitzpatrick has the size to play on the outside and 4.43 speed that could come into play in the slot.

“It’s a plug-and-play mentality for me,” Fitzpatrick said. “If somebody goes down, hopefully I can be someone who can be used in that spot.”